The State Board of Health seeks to contain influenza, 1918

Wisconsin Public Health Bulletins

In December of 1918, the State Board of Health declared that the "Spanish flu" epidemic would "forever be remembered as the most disastrous calamity that has ever been visited upon the people of Wisconsin." The first cases were reported in southern Wisconsin in September 1918, and by December, influenza had sickened almost 103,000 residents and killed more than 8,000.

Known variously as the "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe," influenza killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. By the end of 1918, more than 675,000 Americans had died from the flu, most between the ages of 19 and 42. Wisconsin's State Board of Health issued these quarterly bulletins of the state's vital statistics as well as information on how to prevent the spread of disease.